


Dancing Dirty

by KaytiKazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Dancing, Grant Ward Feels, Grant Ward Isn't Hydra, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Grant Ward, Public Blow Jobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:07:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22042297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKazoo/pseuds/KaytiKazoo
Summary: “Drink your beer, Ward. Forget Leo Fitz,” she said, pushing the beer towards him which he took without protest.“I’m trying,” he said quietly. “It’s really hard when he’s around all the time looking like that.”(OR)Daisy convinces Grant to go out dancing, which turns out to be the best thing that's happened to him.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Grant Ward, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Grant Ward
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	Dancing Dirty

Grant Ward hated that he was in love with Leopold Fitz,  hated that he loved him while Leo Fitz had never so much  as looked his way. Leopold Fitz was straight, and in love with Jemma Simmons, however one-sided or mutual that was. Beyond that, Ward wasn’t sure that Fitz even considered him a  _ friend _ . He was hard to get to know, Simmons at his side most of the time to finish his thoughts and sentences, a pair that had grown together, grown around each other, knew each other so well  that  they didn’t have to try anymore. They were as easy as breathing .

He longed for that. Fuck, he wanted that so bad. It didn’t even have to be with Fitz – although he’d never turn down wrapping himself around that man if the opportunity arose – he just wanted someone who knew him that well. Ever since he was a kid, he’d been fighting for survival, fighting for love, fighting and fighting and fighting. He was so tired. He knew it. He felt it in his bones, into the depths of his soul where he kept everything hidden and tucked away for no one else to see. 

“Do you want to go out dancing while we’re here for the night?” Daisy was asking him, drawing him back from where he was watching  FitzSimmons be  FitzSimmons in the lounge. “It’s been a while since we went out just the two of us.”

“Oh,” he said, forcing himself back to her, back to the moment, back to here and now. “ Uhm .”

“Not a date,” she clarified quickly. “It’s just been a while since you and me went out, and it’s been a rough couple of months for both of us . Call it a check in.”

“I’m the SO here, you know,” he said.

She shrugged.

“Just tonight, there’s no SOs, there’s no agents, there’s no SHIELD. Just Ward and Daisy, yeah?”

Daisy Johnson was a hurricane in a person, relentless and unstoppable, and you either sheltered down to weather her or you just got the fuck out of the way. 

“What time?”

She grinned at him , that pleased smile warming him inside .

“Will you wear that really tight grey shirt and the leather jacket I got you for Christmas last year? And the dark, tight  jeans? Please? I need people to see me with the most  fuckable person at the club.”

“Why?”

“Superiority, obviously.” She laughed as she turned and walked away , calling over her shoulder,  “ s ee you then, Ward.”

He went back to his bunk to consider his life and how the hell he ended up here, laying back on the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It never made any sense how Coulson had chosen him of all people, of every specialist in the agency. How had he ended up here, surrounded by the Cavalry,  FitzSimmons , and Skye-turned-Daisy? Victoria Hand hadn’t mentioned this avenue as a possibility when she’d recruited him. He probably wouldn’t have taken her up on her offer if he’d known this was where his life was going. He would have turned around, marched back to Garrett’s grasp, and let himself be guided  into Hydra. His younger self would have seen  FitzSimmons and their intensity, Daisy and her unshakable light, May and her stoic loyalty, Coulson, the team and would have bolted as soon as possible.  He worked better alone, or he thought he had. 

A knock at his bunk startled him and he sat up. He wasn’t used to getting startled, always on guard.

Fitz grinned at him, pleased with himself.

“Agent Ward,” he greeted. 

“Fitz,” Ward responded but said nothing further.

“Simmons and I overhead Daisy inviting you out, and we, well,  _ Simmons _ was curious what you’re up to, but she didn’t want to ask you herself, so here I am, asking you what I’m sure are inappropriate and certainly unwelcome questions about your personal social life,” he said, leaning against the doorframe. “What are you up to tonight?”

“Daisy has decided that we are going dancing,” Ward answered, checking the time. He’d been staring at the ceiling for a while. He needed to shower and get ready still, find the very specific outfit that Daisy had requested, and meet Daisy at the back of the plane. “And what Daisy wants.”

He let the words trail off with a look, standing from the bed.

“Right,” Fitz said, shuffling his feet. 

“Why? Did you want to come with us?”

Fitz choked on nothing but air from what Ward could perceive, his face flaring a bright crimson, and stuttered out an excuse that he had to go and talk to Simmons before fleeing, leaving Grant standing alone in his bunk again, confused .

* * *

Daisy, as usual, looked amazing without even trying , wearing a small, tight black dress that made her impossible to look away from with the way it clung to her curves and hips, her legs impossibly long , her hair swept up into a complicated  updo that  displayed the length of her neck and the curve of her shoulders . He couldn’t help having fallen for Fitz, but he wasn’t blind, and he wasn’t dead. He had no relationship , no boyfriend or otherwise to remain faithful to. If he wanted to drool over Daisy, he was absolutely going to.

“Wow,” he said, stopping at her side. “You don’t give anyone a chance not to love you, do you?”

“Never,” she grinned and looked  him over slowly, eyes roving over him. For once, he didn’t mind. Most people made it weird, but Daisy’s look was appraising, and familiar. “Goddamn, you really are  fuckable , huh.”

“You look amazing,” he said, kissing Daisy on the cheek and breezing past her assessment of his looks as usual . “Are you ready?”

“Always. Let’s go make some drunk fuckers  very  horny and  _ very _ jealous,” she said, heading out. He rolled his eyes, but followed, watching the way Daisy’s muscles in her back moved, exposed by the plunging back of her dress. Once, Ward would have distracted himself with kissing over those muscles, running his tongue over her perfect skin. They’d grown past that, and while Daisy was a delight to look at, they didn’t work together well that way. Besides, Daisy knew how he felt about Fitz and in her own words, she wasn’t “going to be the other woman, Grant Ward.”

He hadn’t meant to tell her, but somehow, she knew it anyway.

“Grant,” she’d said, slotting their fingers together on the table at dinner. It was the first date they’d gone on ever during their short, but stunningly hot, relationship. “Buddy.”

“Buddy?” he’d replied. 

“Yeah, listen, I have to ask, and I hate to ask because I’m having a lot of fun here with you,” she’d said, “but you and Fitz, is that -”

He’d choked on his breath, stuttering out a panicked, “no!”

“Grant Ward, don’t lie to me, please,” she had said, squeezing his hand. “Do you have feelings for Leopold Fitz?”

“No!”

“Grant,” she had repeated. “Please. You’re my best friend, and I have eyes. You stare at him so much, and you’re always on his side, and you have this soft look on your face when you see him that, you have to be in love with him. Right?”

The way Daisy had stared at him, eyes wide in that way that always cut right through him, he sighed.

“Yes.”

“Oh, boy,” Daisy had said. “I didn’t expect you to say yes. I expected you to deny it violently.”

“I don’t know,  Daise , I tried so hard not to be, but he’s - god, he’s fucking good, isn’t he?”

He could tell then, seeing an understanding pass over Daisy’s face, that she hadn’t even expected him to be this deep in love with Fitz. And yet, here he was.

“Well,” she had said, “you know what that means, right?”

“What?”

“I’m going to have to break up with you, because I am not second fiddle to anyone, not even Leopold Fitz.”

But nothing had changed between them. They had sex if they felt the urge, and they still went on dates, although platonic now, and talked every day. It was the reason that when Daisy asked if he wanted to go out dancing, even though he didn’t really, he got dressed and followed her off the plane to go dancing. 

* * *

The club that Daisy had chosen was loud, and hot, and cramped. She immediately pulled him into the crowd and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close. It was easy to fall into step with her, to keep his body against hers as they rolled with the crowd, moving to the beat of the music. It was hot, and sweaty, and disorienting to be so close to so many strangers, but not care. He wanted to take a deep breath but was afraid he would drown in the thick heat of bodies.

“God, I missed this,” Daisy said, “I miss just going out and dancing without it being a cover, dancing just to have fun. Don’t you?”

She didn’t shout, Ward could read her lips well enough.

“No, I didn’t do anything like this before you,” he answered.

“Well, you’re lucky to have met me.”

“I knew that before.”

She dipped her head down and rested her forehead against his  collarbone , breathing him in.

“God,” Daisy muttered, her voice vibrating against his skin. “Your life sucked before me.”

He laughed, tipping his head back to delight in the lights flashing over their skin.

They lost themselves in the music again, Daisy’s hips leading them through each song, if there was such a thing as individual songs.  They all sounded the same to him, just an electronic beat that rose and fell over and over. 

“Come on, let’s get a drink,” she said, taking his hand and leading him through the throng of people to the bar. “You’re buying.”

“Sure,” he laughed. “I wasn’t under any delusion otherwise.”

She smiled at him, stepping up to the bar and flagging down the bartender.

“Corona with lime, and a vodka soda,” she ordered with a smile. The bartender was cute, Ward could appreciate that, with a square jaw and a tight black t-shirt with the club’s logo that showed his expansive, muscular chest. He pushed his card over the bar with a smile to the bartender to pay for their drinks. 

“Keep it open.”

“Sure thing.”

Daisy paused, her body going rigid for a moment.

“ FitzSimmons are here,” she said, turning to look at him. “Did you invite them?”

“Not intentionally,” he replied.

“Did your mouth?”

“I kind of invited Fitz because he wanted to know what we were up to and my mouth does things around him that it shouldn’t,” he said.

“You want your mouth to do things to him that it shouldn’t,” she answered.

“That’s not helping, even if it is true,” he said, “but he was being cute and I accidentally invited him. I didn’t say when or where we were going.”

“ FitzSimmons are smart, it wouldn’t be a problem for them to figure out where.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m trying to be, you, not  _ this _ , but I’ve also never had to fight against my own emotions like this. Normally, any attraction fades or changes. Like, with you, for instance. I’d do anything for you, you know that, and I’d definitely be down to have sex if you needed or wanted, but I don’t want a relationship anymore.”

“Thanks, bud. I’d fuck you, too.”

“I’m just confused. I’m not used to this.”

“Loving someone?”

“Yes.”

“Drink your beer, Ward. Forget Leo Fitz,” she said, pushing the beer towards him which he took without protest.

“I’m trying,” he said quietly. “It’s really hard when he’s around all the time looking like  _ that _ .”

It hadn’t taken long to spot  FitzSimmons , Ward’s attention always drawn to Fitz in a way that he couldn’t control. Simmons was stunning, dressed in an uncharacteristic sparkling and sheer dress that showed more leg than Ward thought she was capable of, but his eyes slid from her to Fitz as they always did. Where Fitz normally wore sweaters and ill-fitting button ups, the Fitz at the edge of the dance floor was a certain kind of tempting that Ward was particularly weak to, with tight jeans that framed his slender hips and t-shirt that clung to the surprising breadth of his shoulders. Ward could look at him all day, imagine the way he’d run his hands over those shoulders, hold those hips in his hands, trace his hipbones over and over with his thumbs until he knew the curve of them. Since the pod had dropped into the ocean, Garrett staring at Ward with his hand over his on the release, Fitz had abandoned wearing ties, unable to tie them with his fumbling fingers, and had grown up. He’d been through so much. Ward had watched as Fitz had survived and grown over and over, and all of it had just made Ward love him more. 

And he hated it.

He hated that every time he saw Fitz, he wanted to run his fingers over his skin, touch him everywhere to make sure he was whole and unharmed. He hated that whenever he was hurt, Ward couldn’t sit at his side and guard him from further harm. Fitz had been in a coma after what Garrett had done to him, and hadn’t really been the same since. He hated that he couldn’t save Fitz, that he blamed himself for what had happened to Fitz, that  _ Fitz _ blamed him too.

“He does look particularly good tonight,” Daisy agreed.

“Have you ever -”

“Oh, they’re coming over.”

“Fuck,” he groaned and took a long drink from his beer, draining it. “Fuck me.”

“Maybe later,” Daisy said with a laugh. “Pity fuck to fix your heart.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I know.”

He turned back to the bar just as Simmons broke through the crowd to reach them, Fitz just behind her, holding her hand.

“Can I get two more?” he asked to the bartender as he stopped. 

“Anything for you,” the bartender answered with a wink.

“Is he hitting on you?” Daisy asked. “Maybe fucking the hot bartender will cure you – hi!”

“I know it’s quite rude to invite ourselves  along ,” Simmons said from behind him, “but Fitz said you were going out dancing and I just couldn’t help myself. You look amazing, by the way, absolutely stunning.”

“Here you go,” the bartender said, setting the drinks down in front of Ward and the napkin he set down with Ward’s beer had his name, Matt, and his phone number scrawled in messy black ink. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”

Ward went out on a limb and smiled at him, and Matt grinned back before slipping away to help someone down the bar. When he turned back to the group, passing Daisy her drink to replace her empty one, Fitz was staring at him. He pocketed the napkin and put his empty bottle at the edge of the bar with a five for their tip.

“There you go,” Daisy said to Ward, elbowing him with her pointy little dagger elbow, “that’s what I’m talking about!”

“I got his number, Daisy, that’s all.”

“Yeah, but he also wants to  _ help you _ with  _ anything you need,” _ she said with waggling eyebrows. “Maybe you should let him  _ help you _ move on.”

“Daisy,” he warned, voice low. She shrugged without bother and turned back to Simmons.

Fitz hadn’t looked away from him yet, a confusion on his face that Ward wasn’t familiar with.

“Have I never mentioned that I’m into men, too?” he asked. “Is that what the look is for?”

“What? No, I’m not – I don’t -” he stuttered.

Ward watched Fitz wrestle with a series of fleeting emotions, settling on a look of embarrassment.

“Look, it’s okay,” Ward said, unable to hurt Fitz like that, no matter how satisfying it might be. “I know I don’t really come across as the type, and it wasn’t something I was allowed to express growing up. It’s only recently that I’ve felt safe enough to say anything. 

Fitz nodded.

“Well, I guess, thank you for telling me.”

“We’re going to dance,” Daisy said, slamming back her drink and sliding it down the bar. “You boys have fun.”

She grabbed Simmons by the hand and lead her away from them back towards the surging crowd of bodies bouncing just off time with the beat of the song.

“Do you want a drink?” Ward asked, “I have a tab open, so my treat.”

“Why? Do you want to flirt with the bartender?” he asked, voice teasing.

“Or I’m being polite,” Ward replied, and he didn’t expect the teasing tone to be echoed in his own voice.

“Yeah, thank you, I’ll take a beer. Whatever kind.”

“Okay,” Ward said and turned back to the bar to wave Matt down.

“Can’t get enough of me, huh?” Matt said, leaning a little into the bar towards him. 

_ Can’t get enough of me _ , Garrett’s voice echoed, and this time, the man’s smiled turned Ward’s stomach in a way he couldn’t explain. He felt the line of rigidity freeze up the length of his spine, and the voice echoed again in his ears, endlessly loud and ringing clear. 

“What can I get you?”  Matt asked when Ward didn’t immediately say anything.

“ Uhh , Fitz,” Ward said, turning to the side. He didn’t even have to look at Fitz, or make any motion. Fitz was stepping up without needing a hint, without arguing, sliding into the space Ward had left open. Ward’s hand came up to touch Fitz’s arm against his will, and the touch was just enough to calm at least the fraying at the edges of his breaths.

“Hi, can I get the darkest beer you have on tap, please?”

Matt’s eyes flicked haphazardly over Fitz, then Ward, landing on where Ward’s fingertips connected him to Fitz.

“Right away.”

“You alright, Ward?” Fitz asked as soon as Matt stepped away to pull a glass for Fitz. “You froze.”

“Just something he said.”

“I didn’t hear him, was he being rude?”

“No, he was flirting.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Me neither.”

Matt came back with a nearly black beer, looking at Ward carefully.

“You can put anything he orders on my tab, too,” Ward said and turned away, the heavy feeling, the echoing words, too raw inside him.

“Thanks,” Fitz said to Matt, “always taking care of me, this one.”

He appeared at Ward’s side a second later, taking his arm in his free hand and leading them towards a table on the perimeter of the club. It was dark, shadowy compared to the neon of the dancefloor, and quieter. A couple vacated a booth just as they arrived and Fitz swooped in to claim it, pulling Ward with him.

“I’ve  _ never _ seen you freeze, Ward.”

Something, a rubber band wrapped tightly and neatly around all of his years of Garrett bullshit, snapped.

“I’ve given a lot to SHIELD,” he said, settling into his seat across from Fitz. He tugged at the label on his bottle where it was starting to peel. “Even before I knew better, I gave everything to SHIELD. Between Hand and Garrett, I didn’t really have a choice. Garrett saved me from going to jail for the rest of my life, and he did that to bring me into Hydra within SHIELD, and Hand recruited me from Garrett to work undercover for SHIELD, and they didn’t give me any other choice. What Hand didn’t realize was how much she was asking me to do, what she was asking me to endure. John Garrett was an absolute monster before he died, who asked for everything he could possibly take and then way more than he was ever entitled to.”

“Oh,” Fitz muttered.

“I didn’t realize how much it all affected me until Matt said  _ that _ and -”

“What  exactly  did he say?”

“Can’t get enough of me,” Ward said, and the words even tasted bitter on his tongue. “It's what Garrett used to say when I tried to leave, after he’d been particularly cruel or harsh, or when Hand would send me back in with him after I had doubts.”

“She shouldn’t have asked that of you.”

“I’ve done terrible things for SHIELD, ever since I was a kid so I just got used to following orders to stay alive. When Hand realized that she had a way to monitor the Hydra agents inside of SHIELD through me, she didn’t care what I had to go through to do it. Clearly, I did a shitty job of it, but it didn’t matter what I had to do, she wanted me to remain hidden.”

“Grant,” Fitz said, “she  _ shouldn’t _ have asked that of you.”

“Yeah, I think I’m starting to see that now. Like I said, I’ve given a lot to SHIELD, what was left of my innocence and my childhood, my freewill at some points, my identity; it’s all SHIELD property. Hell,  _ I’m _ SHIELD property. Where would I be without it? Locked in a jail cell rotting for the rest of my life, but then, that doesn’t sound half as bad as what I’ve done or become since.”

“What you’ve become – Grant, you’re not a bad person. You’re one of the best SHIELD agents alive, and that comes straight from Maria Hill herself. Beyond that, you’re smart and tactical, and -”

He shook his head.

“Don’t shake your head at me, Grant Ward,” Fitz said. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“How can you say anything good about me? I’ve hurt so many people, I hurt  _ you _ .”

“When did you ever hurt me?”

“You dropped to the bottom of the ocean and suffocated, you were in a coma!”

“That was not you,” Fitz said simply. “You told us to hide, you told us to stay down and out of sight, you were trying to protect us. It was Garrett who pressed the button. It was Garrett that dropped the pod, not you.”

“I did a shitty job protecting you, then,” Ward said.

“We all did a shitty job that day, but we all survived, didn’t we? We’re all here. You, me, Simmons, everyone. So, I’m a little worse for wear, whatever. I’m alive. There’s a lot of bad things out there in the world, and we face them every single day, but you are not one of the bad things . You have never been one of the bad things.”

Ward sat back and didn’t say anything, didn’t argue. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he was so bad with words, so bad with saying the right thing at the right time. He’d messed up a lot in his life, with a lot of people, in a lot of different ways. There was a reason he hadn’t had a serious relationship despite being over 30 now. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was SHIELD property, being under Garrett’s direct observation and then Hand’s strict monitoring hadn’t left him any room for romance  or partnership. Beyond that, Garrett had wanted him to himself, and had sabotaged any relationship with any agents Ward had attempted.  That included even basic friendships with agents at the Academy and when he visited the Hub between missions. Garrett was the reason that Grant worked better alone, because he’d had no other choice.

Garrett was gone now, but his influence hung around Ward like a shroud.

“Hey,” Fitz said, kicking his foot under the table. “Come dance with me.”

Ward’s face must have done something without his permission because Fitz laughed.

“Come on, I won’t bite.”

He stood, abandoning his half-finished beer next to Ward’s and held out his hand. Ward took his hand and Fitz laced their fingers together. 

It was like something out of a daydream Ward had had once, imagining Fitz reaching for his hand and slotting their fingers together, drawing Ward closer and standing on his toes for a soft, familiar kiss. 

“You know,” Fitz said conversationally, walking them towards the center floor, “it’s not that I was shocked  earlier when you  said you liked men, not entirely. I mean, I was, but  not because I’m, you know, a bigot or whatever. It was  only because I didn’t know that that was an option. That  _ you  _ were an option.”

“What do you mean?” 

“My mum has always been super supportive of me, but it was my dad who never wanted me to say anything about it. He didn’t want a queer son on top of having a disappointment, so I learned to hide it away, even after he left. I didn’t act on any impulses, didn’t ask any guys out, didn’t even really look at another guy, until I met Jemma and she’s helped me a lot to come to terms with it all. So, I get it. Me too.”

Ward couldn’t say anything, couldn’t find the words to reply, but maybe he didn’t have to. He squeezed Leo Fitz’s hand, and felt a tiny squeeze back in reply, in solidarity, in understanding. When they stepped out onto the dancefloor, Fitz tugged him close, wrapped his arms around his neck the same way Daisy had, staking a claim, keeping their hips touching, and when he smiled up at Ward, it was as if the entire world fell away. 

He didn’t have to say anything, he realized, not right then, not with Fitz. Fitz didn’t have to know everything yet, the friction of their bodies, the heat of the crowd, the pulse of the song, that was enough. 

* * *

Fitz was more intoxicating than either of the drinks Ward had had, his vision tunneling to focus just on the man in front of him, the crowd of dancers falling away. He knew that it was dangerous to lose track of so many people and let his guard down this way, but Fitz’s eyes were so blue in the neon and the planes of his face shifted under the lights in a way that Ward wanted to study forever.

“Don’t let go,” Fitz said, stepping backwards, and Ward followed, his hands staying on Fitz’s hips. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

Fitz winked and kept walking them backwards, angling them towards a back hallway Ward was certain was off-limits to customers. 

“Leopold Fitz,” Ward warned but it just made Fitz grin wider. Most people would look predatory or crazed, but Fitz just looked delectable, absolutely kissable under the lights. Ward would have followed Fitz off the edge of a cliff without hesitation.

“Grant Ward,” Fitz replied, voice low, that accent tilting Ward’s name in a way that made him hot all over.

“Are you suggesting -”

“I’m suggesting a lot of things and nothing yet. I just want to get you alone first.”

“I’m okay with alone first.”

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” Fitz said.

“Why would I want you to ever stop?”

“You can’t know how you’ll feel in the future, or if something else triggers memories, so tell me if you want me to stop.”

“Fitz,” he started to argue, but the look on Fitz’s face stalled his protest.

“Garrett and Hand didn’t give you a choice, Grant, in where your life went, on your career. But I’m not them. You will always have a choice with me.”

Ward wanted to stop them there just to kiss Fitz breathless, just to taste the sincerity on his lips.

“Thank you,” he said instead, and they finally broke out of the crowd on the dancefloor. “I don’t want to stop, but I will tell you if that changes.”

Fitz’s smile was bright and proud.

“Good. Come with me, Agent Ward.”

Something about the dark, the atmosphere, Fitz’s hands on him, it made him brave.

“I like when you call me Grant,” he said quietly, trying not to come across as embarrassed, even if he was to say it, to ask for it.

“You can call me Leo, or Leopold, then,” Fitz said, “Grant.”

“I’ve always liked Leopold,” he said, dropping his hands from Fitz – Leopold's hips now that they were free from the crowd.

“You know,” Leo said, taking his hand  to keep them connected  and walking beside him, “I thought I felt you staring at me, but I chalked it up to wishful thinking. But you liked me, huh.”

“Of course, I do,” Grant said, because nothing was easier than loving Leo Fitz. “I tried not to stare, but -”

“You did a terrible job,” Leo laughed, pausing just beside the back hall door to look at Grant. “But I didn’t think you were actually staring because you wanted to get me alone. I thought I was imagining it.”

“I would have said something, but I thought you were in love with Simmons.”

“I will always love Jemma Simmons, that’s certainly true, but not like that. At one point, early on, at the Academy, I think I was in love with her, but more the idea of her. She was brilliant and gorgeous and so incredibly out of my league, and we were rivalling, trying to one-up each other. But when I got to  know her, I still  loved her, but I never want to be with her romantically. We don’t work that way. We’re great as researchers, as partners, but not – not like this.”

He wrapped his hands around Grant’s hips, his fingers distractingly long, and pulled Grant into him.

“Not like this at all ,” he reiterated and Grant had to remember to breath with Fitz stepping into his space. He didn’t kiss Fitz, and Fitz didn’t kiss Grant, but instead, they just existed in each other’s space in a new, unfamiliar, intimate way. “Now, come with me.”

He pushed Grant back gently, grinning as he walked them backwards into the hallway. 

“We’re really not supposed to be here, there’s an actual sign that says so,” Grant said, gesturing towards the sign as they passed it.

“Signs can’t stop me.”

Grant let him guide him around the corner and let himself get pressed into the wall, Fitz standing right up against him, his hands caressing the curves of Grant’s hips the same way Grant had envisioned doing to Fitz over and over. 

“I’m a bad boy, Grant,” Fitz said cheekily, “I’ve done very bad things, a flimsy sign is nothing to me, a wanted criminal.”

Grant laughed quietly and ran his hands up and down Fitz’s arms, delighting in being able to touch him, feeling the way his muscles moved as he stroked his thumbs up and down, the softness of his skin, the edges of scars. Grant wondered how many scars Fitz had from all of the near-misses from over the years, how many from lab experiments, how many from field experiences. 

“ You’ve never so much as nicked post-it notes from the office, Leopold Fitz.”

Leo grinned. 

“But you wanted to see me for a reason,” Grant said , drawing them back .

“I did, but I don’t want to waste this moment alone. Who knows when we’ll get another, especially with Daisy probably minutes from searching for you and busting us.”

“She won’t if I tell her not to.”

“Do you want to? Tell her not to, I mean.”

“Yes,” Grant said without hesitation.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Grant fished his phone out of his pocket and flicked open his messaging app. Daisy had already texted him twice.

** Daisy: Where’d you disappear to? **

** Daisy: Oh Fitz disappeared too are you getting it on? I won’t bother you if you’re getting it on **

** Grant: Leave us be I’ll see you later **

“Done. She won’t be bothering us,” he said, pocketing his phone. He saw her response just as the screen went dark, a series of  emojis including but not limited to several eggplants, water droplets, and from what he could see, a  mindblown face.

“Was that the  texting  equivalent of a tie on the door handle?”

“Something like it. If you want it to be.”

“I do. I really, really do, Grant Ward. Come here.”

His hands came up to grip the front of Grant’s jacket and pulled him down to kiss him  _ finally _ . God, Grant didn’t know how good kissing could be, always a means to an end up until then, kissing just long enough to get his partner naked, to move on to mouths on cocks and clits and rutting desperately against each other. But kissing Leopold Fitz was something else entirely, a full body experience with Leo fitting himself easily between Grant’s legs and leaning into him, pushing them into the wall, chest to chest, hip to hip. Everything was hot, Leo’s hands coming up to hold his neck, fingers pressing into his pulse to feel it alive under his fingers. And his lips tasted like dark beer and salty sweat, and then his tongue was slipping against Grant’s, drawing  an unintended moan from him.

Grant saw the shadow of a worker coming first, managing at least to notice that. He pushed Leo away long enough to mutter low.

“Play along, okay?” he said, and then turned them around, pressing his forearm hard against Fitz’s chest to hold him in place. The worker came around the corner just as Fitz opened his mouth to question him, but his mouth snapped shut at the stranger’s presence, playing along like a good and obedient SHIELD agent. “You’re going to tell me what you know about Rick  Brecker or I swear to -”

“You can’t be back here,” the worker said. “This area is off-limits to customers.”

Agent Grant Ward dug his identification for SHIELD out of his jacket pocket, holding Fitz in place easily.

“If you don’t mind,” he said, flashing the ID at the worker, “I’m kind of in the middle of something important here.”

“Well, could you not do it here?” the worker said.

“Do you have another place where I can get information out of him?” Ward asked. “Somewhere quiet and private?”

“ Uhh , no? Well, there’s the stockroom. Back there, third door. Lock sticks so we don’t use it after Anna got locked in for three hours. Just don’t kill him, okay? I don’t want to deal with cleaning anything up.”

“Third door?”

“Yeah, third.”

“Thanks. What’s your name?”

“Alan,” the worker said. 

“Okay, thank you, Alan, you’ve done a great service to the human race. Thank you.”

He grabbed Fitz by the front of his shirt and hefted him away from the wall, and Fitz, to his credit, made it look like he was resisting, but Grant could sense the excitement vibrating in his body. 

“Come on, then,” Ward said, doing his best to menace and lurk their way to the end of the corridor. At the third door, he looked back at Alan who gave an awkward thumbs up from where they had left him. Ward pressed Fitz into the wall beside the door and tried the handle, which came free easily to show a mostly empty room, shelves where liquor might have been stored lining the room in neat rows. He shoved Fitz through the doorway and pulled the door shut after them, and then pulled Fitz back to him.

“That was really, really hot,” Leo said, getting his hands back on Grant’s hips, fingers pushing up his shirt a little at the edges. “You should definitely manhandle me more.”

“Like this?”

Grant had the advantage of being taller, broader, and stronger than Leo, but he deferred to  what  Leo wanted, choosing to take over by Leo’s request. He turned them and pushed Leo into the nearest wall just hard enough to rock them. Leo groaned appreciatively, and rocked back into Grant in return. It was an echo chamber of moans for a moment, tasting what each other’s pleasure sounded like just for a second. 

“Fuck,” Leo said, moving Grant away a fraction. “I didn’t know that was a kink that I had, but you know, of course, Grant Ward is an excellent teacher.”

“I’m not.”

“You are,” he said, his tone saying that he would not be arguing this. Instead, he took Grant’s hand from his shoulder and casually slid it down his chest until they were pressing into the firm line of his hard cock. “See?”

It took Grant a long second to focus on anything except that he was two layers away from getting his hand directly on Leopold Fitz’s cock, but when he dragged himself back to the present, focusing, Leo’s eyes were all pupil, blown wide with desire.

“Kiss me again,” Leo said, voice rough. “Hard and like you mean it, Grant Ward.”

Grant obliged, happily, leaving no room between them, no room between Leo and the wall, their teeth clacking just shy of painfully, lips bruising. What he wanted was to get Leo’s pants undone, drag his erection out into the world, and show him how much he meant it. He hadn’t ever ached to suck someone off before, but Grant wanted to please Leo in a way that no one had. 

“God,  _ yes _ ,” Leo sighed as Grant  moved his mouth  over his jaw, nipping hard and  frequently along the skin. “Don’t stop, Grant.”

“ You’re very demanding,”  Grant answered. “ Very mouthy.”

“Just wait until you see what I can do with my mouth. ”

“Promises, promises,” Grant  said, kissing down  his neck and breathing in the  salty sweetness of Leo’s  skin. “Let me show you what it is  that I can do first.”

Leo’s breath hitched,  but Grant caught his eyes.

“ Do you want me to?”

“ _ Yes _ ,” he  answered emphatically.

“ Good. I’ve been  thinking about this for a long time,” he answered, and let himself fall to his knees in front of Leo.  “ Keep an eye on the door, won’t you?”

“No promises, I  don’t think I’ll be able to look away.”

He kept his eyes up on Leo while he worked at the button and fly of Leo’s incredibly tight jeans. There was a moment where Grant paused, imagining Leo trying to get into these jeans, bouncing around his bunk to pull them on, and he smiled to himself. He wondered if they would be easier to get off of him, but it didn’t matter just yet. That was a problem for later, of course. Right then, Grant tugged the jeans off Fitz’s hips with his boxer briefs coming with them, and let his cock pop free. 

“Fuck, please, Grant,” Leo whined, throwing his head back just from the air along his skin. “Please, get your mouth on me before I die.”

“You’re not going to die,” Grant said, taking Leo’s cock in his hand and wondering at it for a moment, then stroking him slowly, testing how to draw a long, pleased groan out of Leo, see what made his hips jerk. “Not before I fuck you senseless.”

Leo groaned louder.

“Get to it, then.”

It had been awhile since he’d sucked cock, always worried that it would get back to Garrett what he’d been up to. He’d always enjoyed it, the heavy weight of a cock on his tongue, the way his partner moaned and groaned, begged him for more, sent up prayers that he’d never stop. God, the little noises. He loved the way he could feel the noises in where he held them. 

“Fuck,  _ Grant _ ,” Leo whined as Grant tested them both, just a small lick along the underside of Leo’s cock. “Please.”

“So impatient.”

“Someone’s going to walk in if you keep going at this pace.”

“Let them.”

“Grant, no,” Leo whined. “I don’t - I don’t want you -”

Grant wrapped his mouth around the head of his cock and looked up at Leo, locking eyes. It was so easy to just slide down, swallow more until his nose bumped into the curls as the base. He kept his eyes up, watching the length of Leo’s body, the rise and fall of his chest, the bobbing of his Adam’s apple, the flush of his cheeks. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Leo said. 

Grant thought about Leo Fitz, about how he loved him, about the way Leo rocked back and forth on his toes when he was trying to think, and the way that he set his hands on his hips when he was annoyed. He wanted to pleasure Leo Fitz, but he also wanted to show him how much he was cared for, how much he was adored, how much he was loved. He sucked and licked along the length of Leo’s cock, listening to the small whimpers, the quiet begs, the hitch of his breath. 

Leo looked down at him, and his hand, trying to grip at the wall, came to slide into the thick of Grant’s hair. He gripped and Grant, unintentionally, let out a moan of his own. 

“Fuck, do you have a hair pulling kink, Agent Ward?”

Grant pulled off with what even he would consider an obscene pop.

“I didn’t think I did, but apparently I do,” he answered, stroking his hand through the slick spit on Leo’s length, swiping his thumb over the head to include the beaded  precum there. “But I’d let you do whatever you wanted to me without complaint.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” Leo said, voice barely a whisper over the distant club music. 

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know what I’d do to you with that kind of permission.”

“Think about it. I’ll let you do it.”

Leo dropped his head back and Grant watched as he breathed evenly, trying to control himself.

“Soon,” Leo decided. “I’ll let you know. But right now, please get your mouth back on me.”

“Gladly, love,” Grant said, and pressed a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss to the tip and then took the length of Leo’s cock in eagerly. He swirled his tongue around it, and then bobbed up and down, holding the base with one hand and trailing his fingertips up and down the curve of Leo’s hip with the other. Leo’s hips rocked into Grant’s mouth, although Grant could tell he was trying not to. He’d let Leo mindlessly fuck his mouth if he wanted, hold his head in place and absolutely annihilate the back of his throat. He didn’t know if Leo would ever do that, if he was that type of man when you stripped away his decency, or if he was more gentle than that. He wanted to find out. 

“Oh, Grant, I’m close.”

He picked up his pace, enjoying the sensation of Leo’s cock sliding back and forth past his lips. 

“ _ Grant _ ,” Leo managed just as he came, freezing in Grant’s hands. Grant swallowed what he could of Leo’s cum, and pulled off, letting the last of the cum hit his tongue and lips. “Fuck me sideways, Jesus, you’re a god. You have to be.”

“We’ve met gods,” Grant said.

“Yeah, and you’re one of them. You just have to be. No one gives a blow job like that if they’re not divine.”

Grant stood, his knees a little achy from being on them for so long. He was in peak physical condition, but still, he was getting older. His knees had always been a problem for him since Garrett had nearly shattered one of his kneecaps for disobeying. 

“Come up here and kiss me, Grant Ward.”

Grant stepped back into Leo Fitz’s space and kissed him, sliding his hands up into Leo’s curls.

“Mmm, you taste of cum.”

“I taste of you,” Grant said simply. “I like it that way.”

“So, I just need to keep coming in your mouth, then.”

“I wouldn’t say no to sucking you off at your will.”

“Don’t - why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Because I want you, Leopold Fitz, and I will take that any way you want. If that’s sucking you off in backrooms or letting you fuck me in the lab, I want that with you.”

“Promise you’ll still let me know if you change his mind.”

“I promise,” Grant said. “You know I promise you.”

Grant ran his fingers over Leo’s face, smiling at the soft, pliant, post-orgasm expression and the quiet happiness in his beautiful blue eyes. 

“Give me one second, I’m still trying to make my knees work,” Leo said, drawing Grant into him for a kiss, long and slow, loving, unhurried.

“I’ve got you,” Grant said. “Take your time. I’ll always want you. There’s no rush.”

“What if someone comes in?”

“Let them,” he replied.

“Grant, you can’t say shit like that.” 

“Voyeurism not one of your kinks, then, Leopold?”

“Not so far, but I could be persuaded, of course, with enough testing and evidence.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

Grant’s phone buzzed in his pocket against his thigh, and Leo whimpered as the vibrations pressed into his already sensitive cock.

“Daisy, probably,” he said, drawing the phone out of his pocket. 

** Daisy: I said I wouldn’t bother you but I just wanted to let you know Simmons and I are heading back to the Zephyr  **

** Daisy: Just in case you come out of fucking and don’t panic **

** Daisy: I’m considerate like that **

** Grant: Noted **

** Daisy: I hope you’re using protection! Love you! **

She didn’t send anything else, and Grant put his phone away, rolling his eyes. 

“Where were we?” 

He kissed Leo as he went to reply, crowding him into the wall.

“Tell me what you want,” Leo said, trailing kisses over the edge of Grant’s beard, over his cheekbone, to his ear. “Do you want me to suck you off?”

It hadn’t occurred to Grant until just then that this was reciprocal, that Leo Fitz wanted to pleasure him  _ back _ . 

“Oh,” he said, “oh, my god.”

He hadn’t meant to say it, but it was hitting him all at once that this was happening, that this was real, it wasn’t a dream. In all of his fantasies, there wasn’t an after Leo got off, because that always sent Grant over the edge himself. He had never once pictured Leo doing the same for him, not that he didn’t want that, of course.

“What? Are you -”

“No, it’s just – this is real,” Grant said with a delighted laugh. “I’ve wanted you for a while, and it’s - this is  _ real.” _

_ “ _ Yeah,” he replied. “It’s real. Do you want me to suck you off, Grant?”

“God,  _ yes _ .”

“Good, I’ve also wanted this for a while.”

He turned them, pressing Grant into the wall with his body weight. Usually, Grant would shove anyone off who thought they could hold him in place, insist that they don’t hold him like that, even if he wanted them. Leo Fitz was the exception.

“When was the last time you let someone touch you like this, Grant?”

“Too long,” he answered, because no one had touched him like this. Daisy was the closest, he thought, but it still wasn’t the same. 

“How long?”

Leo was working at the button of his jeans without looking at it, instead staring right up at Grant, eyes locked on his. 

“ Uhm , probably about eighteen months?” he answered. “I’m not sure.”

“Oh, baby,” Leo cooed, his hand pushing past the band of Grant’s waistband, fingertips brushing deliciously and teasingly against Grant’s base. “You should have said something.”

“It wasn’t a priority.”

“I’ll take care of you now,” Leo promised. “Don’t worry. You’ve got me.”

“Do I?”

Leo paused, wrapping his hand around the base of Grant’s cock. 

“Of course. If you want me, Grant Ward, you’ve got me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?” Grant asked.

Leo leaned in and kissed him so softly.

“Promise, Grant.”

“Okay.”

“Let me show you what you’ve been missing.”

He didn’t have any words; all he could do was nod and pray that that was enough. 

“Good. Now be a good boy and let me work.”

Leo sank down to his knees and pushed Grant’s shirt to kiss along his stomach and hips. It was soft, loving, the kind of gesture that made Grant’s knees a little weak. He would never tell anyone but he was always weak to this, to soft gestures, to kindness. Garrett thought he’d been beating it out of him, but Grant was always desperate for approval after and because of Garrett. 

He couldn’t help the quiet whimper that escaped him.

Leo muttered encouragements into his skin, kissing looping designs and pushing his jeans down his hips just enough to draw his hard cock out. 

“God _ damn _ ,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful.”

This was the part of the fantasy that Grant never got to, but he would now after seeing Leo on his knees like this. 

“I’m going to make you feel  _ so good _ .”

Grant watched Leo kiss the tip and dragged his tongue over it, sending a shiver through him. He was obsessed with watching Leo, at how his mind sorted out the problem in front of him, broke it down, simplified and then reconstructed, found the solution and the next steps, and set to work fixing the problem. He was obsessed, he couldn’t look away, even to check the door, watching as Leo took his head in between his lips and sucked. If he weren’t possessive and a little jealous of a man, he’d watch Leo Fitz suck any cock, just to watch him. But this was good. 

Leo’s free hand came skittering up his side and took Grant’s, guiding it to his hair. He didn’t say anything, just winked and went back to his work, bobbing up and down slowly, taking more of Grant into his mouth with each  downstroke . He was beautiful, so beautiful, Grant thought, and gripped Leo’s hair, not to guide but just to hold, to anchor himself. He was going to float away without holding himself there.

So, he watched, enjoying the show. And not to be shown up or outdone, Leo made quite a show of it. Leo’s mouth was hot, and wet, and silky smooth, his tongue sliding over Grant’s skin, tracing patterns, algorithms, equations, designs. His name. Over and over, Leo Fitz sneakily traced his name into Grant’s cock, claiming him quietly and repeatedly. 

“Leo,” he whined, the only word he could manage. 

He wanted to cry, he wanted to curse, he wanted to yell and to beg. 

All he could do was say Leo’s name over and over like a prayer, a chant, a promise. 

When he came, it was on a strangled cry of Leo’s name, hand fisting Leo’s perfect curls probably too hard, but being unable to relax his hand. Leo didn’t seem to mind, his moan around Grant’s length echoing Grant’s own, and when Grant’s knees went rubbery, he fell gracelessly right into Leo Fitz.

“I killed you, huh,” Leo said, laughing and kissing him on the face, all over, wherever he could reach. “You were so good for me, Grant. So good. I can’t wait to get you to a bed and take you apart.”

“Leo,” Grant said. 

“ Mmmhm .”

“Let me get my feet underneath me before you make promises like that.”

“It’s more fun this way.”

“You’re a little shit,” Grant said softly, kissing Leo’s lips, his cheeks, his jaw, his neck, his everywhere. “Never let me go. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

“Are you asking me out, Grant Ward?”

“I suppose I am.”

“You can’t do that.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because I was going to ask you out first!”

“I beat you to it,” Grant said. “So, is that a yes, Agent Fitz?”

“Of course, Agent Ward.”

“Good, it would make it really awkward if you’d said no after this,” he said, stroking his thumb over Leo’s cheek slowly. “Also, Daisy would absolutely never let us live in peace if I went back and told her I didn’t get a date with you.”

“She would believe it, you have no game sometimes.”

Grant rolled his eyes.

“I got you, though,” Grant said.

“No, you see, what happened here, this was me. I got  _ you _ ,” Leo replied. 

“That’s true.”

He kissed Leo again just because he could. 

Leo kissed him back.

“If ghosts ever turn out to be a thing,” Leo said, settling into him, resting his body weight against Grant without a problem, “I’m going to hunt down Victoria Hand and John Garrett first, you know.”

“That was a non sequitur if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Just something I was thinking.”

“Were you picturing beating up ghosts while you were sucking my dick?”

“No, but now that I’m dating you, I can beat up the ghosts that were mean to you.”

“Okay, sure,” Grant said, laughing lightly and kissing Leo’s temple. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“Hey, do you want to go dance with me? First date right now? Drinks and dancing? I still have an open tab.”

“I think the sound of that. Lead the way.”

They redressed, kissing softly between movements, and started for the door when yet another text buzzed Grant’s phone in his pocket.

“I swear to god,” he muttered, pulling the phone out.

** Daisy: Bad news bears we’re leaving tonight, Coulson got some intel that a major Hydra weapon is being moved somewhere in New York and we’re flying out as soon as you get back **

** Daisy: So finish up your orgasms and get back here **

“I guess that will have to wait,” he said, passing the phone to Leo.

“Yeah,” Leo said, showing his own text thread with Simmons to Grant. “Got the same message from Simmons. What could the weapon be?”

“No idea. Might be able to contact some old moles in Hydra to see if they know anything, but the chatter has been quiet since SHIELD fell,” Grant said, smoothing an errant curl on the top of Leo’s hand where he’d had his hands. “Hopefully it’s nothing big, bad, or world-ending.”

“My favorite things are big, bad, and world-ending,” Leo said, walking over towards the door. He pulled at the door, and frowned. “Oh.”

“What?”

“Alan did say that the lock sticks, remember?” 

“The door’s stuck?”

“Yeah.”

Grant stepped up behind Leo and kissed his neck while he reached around him to try the door. It didn’t budge.

“Well, fuck.”

“Yeah,” Leo agreed, stepping to the side. “I don’t have any of my tools, if you’ll believe it. Maybe give it a proper go. Use all those muscles.”

“Alright,” Grant said. “Let’s see if I can break this.”

He put his foot up on the doorjamb and tried first pulling the handle as hard as he could, but it remained stuck in place. 

“Fuck, who designed this?”

“Either a very good or a very bad engineer,” Leo replied. He leaned against the wall close by and fixed his t-shirt, and Grant willfully kept his hands to himself.

“Alright, pulling isn’t working.”

“Worked on me.”

“Leopold, you’re extremely not helpful.”

“Try kicking it. See if that’s helpful.”

“Leopold.”

“Yes, love?”

“ Shhh .”

Grant fixed his feet for a decent stance and kicked as hard as he could just next to the doorknob. Where he kicked gave way, a heel indentation in the flimsy wood, but the lock stayed in place.

“Wow,” Leo whistled, moving towards the door again to inspect the lock. “I mean, it definitely is a good lock if you want it to be locked, I suppose.”

“I’m going to call Daisy, I guess, have her quake us out of this.”

“Well, you’re still my hero even if you couldn’t break down a door.”

Grant rolled his eyes, going for his phone again.

“Maybe you just need some proper motivation,” Leo offered. “Like, say, if you get us out of here, I will definitely take you back to the plane and take you apart as slow as you like, using my fingers and my mouth, my tongue. How does that sound?”

“Mmm, that does sound good.”

“I’ll make you beg for it. I’ll make you so desperate to come that you won’t care how loud you’re being. I’ll make it so everyone on the Zephyr knows exactly what I’m doing to you, exactly what you like.”

“And this is supposed to make me focus on kicking the door down?”

“Can’t fuck you in here, can I?”

Grant groaned.

“Okay, let’s try this again.”

He squared his stance, righted his shoulders, and looked over at Leo Fitz who grinned and set his hands on his hips to watch.

“You got this, baby. Impress me.”

With one more swift kick placed closer to the doorjamb, the wood cracked and the doorknob gave way. Grant reached out and pulled the door open, grinning over at Leo.

“Impressed?”

“More than. You’re so hot, Grant Ward,” he said, drawing Grant in toward him for a long, lingering kiss. “It’s going to be a while before I can get you alone, since we’re headed out on mission, so I’m going to enjoy this for a second longer. You, me, alone.”

“It has certainly been enjoyable,” Grant said, kissing Leo again, unable to stop himself. He didn’t want to stop. He never wanted to be away from this moment, this room with just Leo, all of the world’s possibilities and all of the universe’s time before them. “I’ll wait for you until we can be alone again, no matter how long this mission or the next takes.”

“You don’t think you’re good at this, I know you don’t think you’re good with people, but you say the right things at the right time for me, and that’s enough. You’re very good at this.”

“Me?”

“Do you see anyone else in this room?”

“Well, no.”

“Of course, you, silly. Besides, even if you were absolute rubbish, I’d still want you. You know that, right?”

“Doesn’t hurt to hear it,” he said. “Can I tell you something before we go?”

“Of course.”

He reached for Leo who stepped into his embrace readily, leaning into Grant who rucked up the back of his shirt to get his hands on the small of Leo’s back, palms pressing into the warm, smooth skin there.

“I don’t have a lot of practice with relationships. Garrett kept me on a short leash, isolating me from everyone else, keeping me to himself.”

“Yeah, I know,” Leo said softly.

“So, I’m not good at this, at saying the right things, at doing the right things. I’m good at the sex -”

“Obviously,” Leo cut in.

Grant continued, “because sex isn’t the same kind of intimacy. Garrett still wasn’t pleased when I’d find someone to fuck but as long as I wasn’t attached to them, he’d let it slide with a lesser punishment. I wasn’t allowed friends, or teammates, or boyfriends. And when I mentioned it to Hand, she said it was necessary to keep myself in Garrett’s good graces. So, I haven’t ever had a serious relationship, so I don’t know how this goes. I don’t know what to do, or what to say, or how to act, but I want to try with you, because of all the people I’ve met, you’re the one person I would have defied him for. I still would if he were here.”

Leo grinned at him, his own hands gripping the front of Grant’s jacket.

“See, that’s exactly what I mean. You are  _ very good _ at this, Grant Ward. I want to try with you, too. I’ve been at SHIELD since I was 16 years old, so I don’t have much experience with this either. So,  as long as you want me, want this too, I’ll be there with you, whatever that means, whatever that looks like.”

“Good.”

His phone went off again, and he ignored it in favor of kissing Leopold Fitz, his boyfriend, his  _ first boyfriend _ . He was over thirty years  old, he’d been on his own in the world since he was sixteen, and yet Fitz was his first boyfriend. That was okay, he thought, thumbs stroking the curve of Fitz’s hips, he didn’t need a long history of partner to know what he wanted. He wanted this, kissing Leo, holding him, looking forward to whatever came next.

What came next was a call from Daisy Johnson, of course, asking where the fuck they were, it couldn’t possibly take that long to fuck in a dirty club bathroom. 

“We’re on our way back,” Grant answered, pressing a kiss into Leo’s temple. 

“Are you on your way back single or together?”

“Together.”

“Yes!” she cheered. “Jemma! Our boys are dating finally!”

“Daisy,” he groaned as he heard Jemma Simmons let out a loud  _ whoop  _ in the background of Daisy’s side of the call.

“Come on, let’s go before Daisy tells the entire world,” Leo said. “Although, I don’t mind if they know. I want people to know you’re mine.”

“Gross,” Daisy said. “Get your asses back here.”

“We’re on our way,” Grant repeated.

“And Ward?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m happy for you. You deserve it.”

“Thanks, Daise. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said cheerily. 

He hung up and tucked his phone away. 

“She’s right,” Leo said, “you do deserve it.”

“I don’t know about that, but I’m not going to question it.”

“I’ll convince you. I know I will. With enough time, at least.”

“I’m stubborn, you know. It’ll take a while.”

“That’s okay,” Leo said, sliding their hands together, tethering them to each other. “I’m just as stubborn as you are, and we’ve got the rest of our lives.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya again!!  
> So, anyone who has read the rest of my Fitzward fics will notice a pattern, I love Good Boy Grant and the potential he had! I have a particular Ward-fix where Victoria Hand recruited Ward to SHIELD out of Garrett's hands to monitor Hydra. I just want Fitz and Ward to be happy.  
> If you wanna talk, comment or hit me up on tumblr at kaytikazoo!!
> 
> -K


End file.
